Tikolevu assures on growth

CONSIDERING the 0.2 per cent increase in the Gross Domestic Product growth rate predicted by the International Monetary Fund for Fiji in 2013, Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority chief executive officer Jitoko Tikolevu has assured the economy and our revenue growth is progressing well.

Speaking at the Fiji Economy Update 2012 yesterday, Mr Tikolevu noted a 9 per cent increase in revenue growth for 2012. However, he said this did not correlate with the increase in real GDP growth of 2.7 per cent forecasted for 2012.

"There have been some inconsistencies with the growth in real GDP and revenue growth. Despite the natural disaster this year and major reforms taking place, revenue growth remains very strong," he said.

"The hotel (industry), construction and government are consistently contributing to GDP growth and revenue growth as well."

Of the total tax revenue, Mr Tikolevu noted agriculture and mining sat at 1.3 per cent and 0.4 per cent respectively in terms of tax by GDP sectors.

Community, social and personal services carried the biggest tax composition with 27.4 per cent compared to 17 per cent for GDP composition. Elaborating on the tax regime, Mr Tikolevu said the corporate tax rate in Fiji for both residents and non-residents remained the same since 2001, gradually decreasing to its current rate of 20 per cent.

The 2011 national budget was $1.96billion with expenses estimated at $1.7b.